Week seven of the Fantasy Baseball season begins Monday May the 18th. We have much to cover this week so let’s get started!
Inter League Matchups for Week Seven
Milwaukee Brewers at the Detroit Tigers (Monday-Wednesday)
Cincinnati Reds at the Kansas City Royals (Tuesday-Wednesday)
Minnesota Twins at the Pittsburgh Pirates (Tuesday-Wednesday)
New York Yankees at the Washington Nationals (Tuesday-Wednesday)
Tampa Bay Rays at the Atlanta Braves (Tuesday-Wednesday)
Baltimore Orioles at the Miami Marlins (Friday-Sunday)
Cincinnati Reds at the Cleveland Indians (Friday-Sunday)
St Louis Cardinals at the Kansas City Royals (Friday-Sunday)
Bullpen News
At least for now Addison Reed is out as closer of the Arizona Cardinals and it appears as though Brad Ziegler will be the new man on the bump. Ziegler is mainly a ground baller (5.80 GB/FB ratio) that won’t get you many strikeouts, a 1.26 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and should be a good source for saves going forward. He’s owned in just 4 percent of major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
One other situation is happening in Oakland. This past week the Oakland A’s bolstered their bullpen by adding former closer Edward Mujica. Mujica has saved 47 games in his career and you might want to keep your eye on this as Manager Bob Melvin may turn to him to close some games at some point this season.
Two Start Pitchers
The following pitchers are scheduled for two starts this week. Please check the schedule daily for last minute changes, injuries, demotions or whatever.
Matt Harvey (Mon-Sat), Chris Sale (Mon-Sat), Sonny Gray (Tue-Sun), Johnny Cueto (Tue-Sun), Corey Kluber (Mon-Sat), Cole Hamels (Mon-Sat), Michael Wacha (Tue-Sun), Anibal Sanchez (Tue-Sun), Jose Quintana (Tue-Sun), Jose Quintana (Tue-Sun),
Jason Hammel (Tue-Sun), Nathan Karns (Tue-Sun), Mike Fiers (Mon-Sat), James Shields (Tue-Sun), John Lackey (Mon-Sat), Carlos Frias (Tue-Sun), Trevor Bauer (Tue-Sun), Drew Pomeranz (Mon-Sat), Aaron Harang (Tue-Sun), Jimmy Nelson (Tue-Sun), Aaron Sanchez (Mon-Sat), Drew Hutchison (Tue-Sun), Mike Foltynewicz (Tue-Sun), Taijuan Walker (Tue-Sun), Jonathon Niese (Tue-Sun), C.J. Wilson (Tue-Sun), Dan Haren (Mon-Sat), Yovani Gallardo (Tue-Sun), Wade Miley (Tue-Sun), Jarred Cosart (Tue-Sun), Tim Hudson (Tue-Sun), Kyle Lobstein (Mon-Sat), Hector Santiago (Tue-Sun), Chris Tillman (Tue-Sun), Rubby De La Rosa (Mon-Sat), Jeremy Hellickson (Tue-Sun), Roberto Hernandez (Tue-Sun), Jordan Lyles (Mon-Sat).
Starting Pitching Waiver Wire Suggestions
Each of the pitchers below are owned in less than 50 percent of all major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Carlos Frias Dodgers: Frias has two starts this week (on the road Tuesday at the Giants and home Sunday against the Padres). Nearly 8 strikeouts and less than 2 walk’s per nine innings but more importantly a .048 home run rate. 3.50 GB/FB ratio to go along with a 2.89 ERA and 1.18 WHIP. He’s also missing bats in the strike zone at 10.3 percent.
Jimmy Nelson Brewers: Nelson has two road starts this week (Tuesday at Detroit and Sunday at Atlanta) and while plenty of Fantasy Owners have given up on Nelson he does have 8.02 strikeouts and less than 3 walks per nine innings. His 4.22 ERA is a bit high but his WHIP of 1.15 and his 11.9 swinging strike rate works for me.
Drew Pomeranz Athletics: Pomeranz has two road starts this week (Monday at Houston and Saturday at Tampa Bay) and Pomeranz is another one I’m not ready to give up on. Pomeranz is averaging nearly 7 strikeouts and fewer than three walks per nine innings to go along with a GB/FB ratio of 1.06. His 4.42 ERA is high but his WHIP of 1.22 is workable. He’s also missing bats at about 8.4 percent.
Mike Fiers Brewers: Fiers has two road starts this week (Monday at Detroit and Saturday at Atlanta) and is averaging 12.22 strikeouts and 3.75 walks per nine innings. His 5.00 ERA isn’t anything to write home about and his WHIP of 1.55 is less than desirable but if you need strikeouts this week Fiers is your man.
Drew Hutchison Blue Jays: Two starts at home this week (Angels on Tuesday and Mariners on Sunday) and averaging 8.09 strikeouts and 2.98 walks per nine innings. A 6.17 ERA and 1.51 WHIP aren’t very encouraging but what is encouraging is a 4.11 xFIP and 10 percent swinging strike rate. He’ll put it together and when he does you probably won’t see him in this space again.
Mike Foltynewicz Braves: Foltynewicz has two home starts this week (Tuesday against the Rays and Sunday against Milwaukee) and is averaging 8.47 strikeouts and 5.67 walks per nine innings. His 4.24 ERA is workable but his 1.71 WHIP is extremely high. The sample size is small and anyone with a 94 MPH plus fastball with a 9.7 swinging strike rate at least deserves consideration.
Rubby De La Rosa Arizona: De La Rosa has two starts this week (Monday on the road at Miami and home Saturday against the Cubs) and is averaging 8.59 strikeouts and 2.45 walks per nine innings. His 4.50 ERA is a bit high but his 1.20 WHIP is good enough to help you win a matchup. Rubby is also missing 10.7 bats in the strike zone and his 3.41 xFIP suggests better days ahead.
Nathan Karns Tampa Bay: Karns has two starts this week (on the road Tuesday against Atlanta and home Sunday against Oakland) and is averaging 8.74 strikeouts and 4.17 walks per nine innings. His ERA of 3.77 and 1.17 WHIP are workable and are actually beginning to come down over the last couple of weeks. Karns is a keeper folks.
Jonathon Niese Mets: Niese has two starts this week (home on Tuesday against St Louis and on the road Sunday against the Pirates) and is averaging 5.61 strikeouts and 2.49 walks per nine innings. Niese has an awesome ERA of 2.49 but a high 1.38 WHIP. Niese has an excellent 2.86 GB/FB rate and should be good to go this week.
Daily Pitching Streamer Advice
Monday: Dan Haren of the Marlins is 52% owned and is at home against the Diamondbacks. He has a 3.70 ERA and 1.09 WHIP and has picked up a couple of wins over the last two weeks. You might also consider Rubby De La Rosa of the Diamondbacks as well as Mike Fiers on the road against Detroit or even Drew Pomeranz on the road against Houston.
Tuesday: I like the Indians Trevor Bauer (67% owned) and his 9.50 strikeouts per nine innings against the White Sox on Tuesday. His ERA (3.67) and WHIP (1.30) are workable but those strikeouts are what I’m signing up for. You might also consider the Marlins Jarrod Cosart (10% owned) at home against the Diamondbacks or the Cubs Jason Hammel (63% owned) on the road against the Padres.
Wednesday: Tim Lincecum (53% owned) and his 2.43 ERA are at home against the Dodgers. He’s also averaging 7.08 strikeouts and 4.20 walks per nine. He allows just 0.23 bombs per nine innings so him facing the big swinging Dodgers shouldn’t be a problem. You might also want to consider the White Sox Carlos Rodon (45.2%) at home against the Indians or even Miguel Gonzalez (32% owned) of the Orioles at home against the Mariners.
Thursday: Tyler Lyons (2.4% owned) of the Cardinals is on the road against the weak hitting Mets. Striking out batters at a rate of 11.57 per nine and less than 3 walks per nine is a good thing. His 4.82 ERA and 1.50 WHIP are high but again it is the Mets and the canyon known as Citi. You might also want to consider the Athletics Jesse Chavez (35.9% owned) on the road against the Rays or possibly the Cubs Kyle Hendricks (8% owned) on the road against the Padres.
Position Players Waiver Wire Suggestions
Each of these waiver wire suggestions is owned in less than 50 percent of all major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Adam LaRoche 1B DH White Sox: Over the last 14 days LaRoche has slashed .333/.511/.485/.996 with 1 bomb, 5 runs scored and 7 RBI. .323 BABIP and 16 percent walk rate and of course the .150 ISO are all good numbers to see. If you can live with LaRoche’s 27 percent strikeout rate he’s dual eligible and a keeper.
Jace Peterson 2B SS Braves: Peterson has been decent over the last couple of weeks slashing out a credible .304/.358/.326/.684 line. He’s also scored 5 runs to go along with 3 RBI and two stolen bases over that same time frame. Peterson is what he is; a dependable duel eligible middle infielder that plugs holes and keeps you alive until you find someone else.
Yunel Escobar SS 3B Nationals: Escobar has two five hit games already this season and over the last two weeks has slashed .345/.371/.345/.716 scoring 11 runs while driving in 7 RBI. Don’t expect much if anything in terms of power because you won’t see much but his 86 percent contact rate and .358 BABIP could mean multi hit games in droves.
Trevor Plouffe 3B Twins: Over the last two weeks Plouffe has slashed a respectable .295/.392/.523/.915 line with 2 bombs, 10 RBI and 7 runs scored. Nice ISO of .184 and BABIP of .302 suggesting better days to come. He’s the Twins everyday third baseman and bats cleanup so he’ll get plenty of opportunities to put up the numbers.
Miguel Montero C Cubs: The Cubs are carrying three catchers this season but Montero seems to be the one getting most of the playing time. Over the past two weeks he’s slashed out a line of .387/.535/.548/1.083 with 1 bomb, 5 RBI and 4 runs scored. Great .195 ISO and .345 BABIP; Montero is on a roll folks.
Marlon Byrd OF Reds: At age 37 Byrd is still getting it done and over the last two weeks has put up a .368/.500/.947/1.447 slash line including 6 bombs, 14 RBI, 7 runs scored and has even stolen a base. Big ISO of .252 and extremely low BABIP of .252; He’ll never hit for average but he’ll do the rest for you.
Andre Ethier OF Dodgers: Ethier is playing every day and making the most of it. Over the last two weeks he’s slashed a line of .333/.431/.500/.931 with 1 bomb, 5 RBI and 4 runs scored. Ethier has an excellent ISO of .264 and BABIP of .384 with a contact rate of 82 percent. He’ll make a good addition to your roster this week.
Dexter Fowler OF Cubs: If you need stolen bases Fowler has swiped 8 of them this season and over the past two weeks has put together a slash line of .241/.333/.407/.740 with 2 bombs, 4 RBI and 13 runs scored. Decent .155 ISO and great BABIP of .337 and a 10.2 percent walk rate means more stolen bases and runs scored.
Available Oakland Athletics
Brett Lawrie 2B 3B 29.5% owned: Lawrie has had a difficult start to his 2015 campaign and over the last two weeks has slashed a line of .309/.328/.364/.692 with 4 runs scored and 3 RBI. His .363 BABIP suggests he probably has been unlucky and his 27 percent strikeout rate is by far the worst in his career. We have too much evidence that suggests this is a prolonged slump and he could pull out of this at any time.
Jesse Hahn SP 10.8% owned: Hahn makes his next scheduled start Wednesday the 20th of May against Houston. His last three starts saw him lasting just 5.6 innings a start with a 6.48 ERA and 1.68 WHIP. What are encouraging are the 14 strikeouts over those 16 innings and just 5 walks. He’s a viable option in deeper leagues only and maybe as a value pick in Daily Fantasy Baseball
Good luck this week Fantasy Baseball Owner!
